Trump administration plans to end the IRS Direct File program for free tax filing, sources say
This March 22, 2013, file photo shows the exterior of the Internal Revenue Service building in Washington. Credit: AP/Susan Walsh
The Trump administration plans to eliminate the IRS' Direct File program, an electronic system for filing tax returns directly to the agency for free, according to two people familiar with the decision.
The program developed during Joe Biden's presidency was credited by users with making tax filing easy, fast and economical. But Republican lawmakers and commercial tax preparation companies complained it was a waste of taxpayer money because free filing programs already exist, although they are hard to use.
The program had been in limbo since the start of the Trump administration as Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency have slashed their way through the federal government. Musk posted in February on his social media site, X, that he had “deleted” 18F, a government agency that worked on technology projects such as Direct File.
'We had absolutely no idea what happened to her' What began as a desperate hunt for Shannan Gilbert in the marshes near Gilgo Beach became, in three astonishing days in December 2010, the unmasking of a possible serial killer. NewsdayTV's Doug Geed has more.
